Here's a story to warn and a request for advice.
We have had a cowboy install engineered wood flooring in our living room and hallway (a single "L" shaped floor with no doors). The floor was laid with the planks running along the shortest length and was not cut to allow for expansion and as such 2 large humps have developed over the past 2 years.
While at first these were minor and "squished" when walked on, we did not know that the ****wit had also laid about 2cm of levelling compound, of various makes and varying depth underneath this, and made up for the extra unevenness with excessive wood floor adhesive. This was in turn laid on top of existing pvc tiles (which should have been removed as requested) that are bonded to the concrete sub-floor with old style bitumen.
This led to the floor eventually raising up in 2 places, one large long hump in the main room that was +4cm in the centre, and another still squishy in the hallway about 2cm high. The large hump could take the weight of 4 adults without moving. Sounds comical.. anyway we hid it with the sofa.
The problem we have now is after moving the sofa off the hump and relieving the pressure at the 2 farthest ends with careful chiselling, the floor now will not drop flat due to the self levelling compound breaking up and sticking to the copious amounts of rubbery wood floor adhesive under the planks. I looks like it was poured on the floor in big "S" shapes before laying. I wish I was around to see the work being done, but I was away working at the time, and it was all complete and shiny when I got home.
I have started to carefully remove the planks from one end of the floor, in an attempt to expose the damaged levelling compound where the big hump was, but I am finding that they are breaking due to the amount of adhesive holding the tongue and grove solid.
If anyone has some advice or knows anyone in the Swansea area who can fix this urgently then please let me know. In the mantime I am planning to start pulling it all for reclamation, strip the floor (which should be straight forward due to the PVC tile and bitumen layer) and lay cheap laminate for Christmas. In future I will be doing all decorating myself, the perpetrator came recommended and has since done seemingly good work for others we know, but will not return calls or come and fix his mess, and now seems to be generating similar stories elsewhere.
But let this be a lesson to anyone thinking of skimping like this. The materials cost over £2500, the labour 250.
We have had a cowboy install engineered wood flooring in our living room and hallway (a single "L" shaped floor with no doors). The floor was laid with the planks running along the shortest length and was not cut to allow for expansion and as such 2 large humps have developed over the past 2 years.
While at first these were minor and "squished" when walked on, we did not know that the ****wit had also laid about 2cm of levelling compound, of various makes and varying depth underneath this, and made up for the extra unevenness with excessive wood floor adhesive. This was in turn laid on top of existing pvc tiles (which should have been removed as requested) that are bonded to the concrete sub-floor with old style bitumen.
This led to the floor eventually raising up in 2 places, one large long hump in the main room that was +4cm in the centre, and another still squishy in the hallway about 2cm high. The large hump could take the weight of 4 adults without moving. Sounds comical.. anyway we hid it with the sofa.
The problem we have now is after moving the sofa off the hump and relieving the pressure at the 2 farthest ends with careful chiselling, the floor now will not drop flat due to the self levelling compound breaking up and sticking to the copious amounts of rubbery wood floor adhesive under the planks. I looks like it was poured on the floor in big "S" shapes before laying. I wish I was around to see the work being done, but I was away working at the time, and it was all complete and shiny when I got home.
I have started to carefully remove the planks from one end of the floor, in an attempt to expose the damaged levelling compound where the big hump was, but I am finding that they are breaking due to the amount of adhesive holding the tongue and grove solid.
If anyone has some advice or knows anyone in the Swansea area who can fix this urgently then please let me know. In the mantime I am planning to start pulling it all for reclamation, strip the floor (which should be straight forward due to the PVC tile and bitumen layer) and lay cheap laminate for Christmas. In future I will be doing all decorating myself, the perpetrator came recommended and has since done seemingly good work for others we know, but will not return calls or come and fix his mess, and now seems to be generating similar stories elsewhere.
But let this be a lesson to anyone thinking of skimping like this. The materials cost over £2500, the labour 250.
